30 Kisses: LinaZelgadis
by Tokki-chan
Summary: Archive for my drabbles from the 30 Kisses Livejournal community.
1. True Colors

Disclaimer: Slayers is not mine, blah di blah. These were the stories I got written for the livejournal 30 kisses challenge, which, sadly, I was unable to complete. The numbers refer to the themes. The ones I did get done, however, will be archive here.

**True Colors (Slayers, Lina/Zelgadis, #15, #19)**

He is the perfect blue. His silver hair glows with the reflected light of the heavens in a faint sky-colored sheen. Pebbly skin suffused with the unnatural combination of troll and demon flows within him giving him his ghostly hue, while flecks of teal dully catch sunlight on its surface. Peering through long bangs are two glittering sapphires he insists are eyes, though she knows better. They're too clear, too pure. And they glitter much too fiercely—like the stones they remind her of.

He is the perfect blue. On the worst of days, when his melancholia and self-pity are all that he knows (which is often), he becomes the embodiment of the color he _is_. The air around him becomes thicker, heavier—_bluer_—almost to the point where one could take it and wrap it around their shoulders if they got too close. On normal days, he glints with the cold unfeeling edge of a knife. His eyes then are sharp, calculating, and clinical, and a chill shoots through her when she catches their gaze. On the good days, he's like a cloudless sky or an ocean without waves—just as calm and collected, and just as constant.

She is the brilliant red. She wears the color like a second skin: in her flashy clothes, in the shiny accoutrements and talisman dotted throughout her costume. On anyone else the effect would be garish, but she carries it with such effortlessness that makes it nearly impossible to imagine her in anything else. The sun glints off her wild mane like living fire—going first from a dazzling crimson to a burnished gold and all shades in between and back again. Like its owner, it never sits still, first dancing cheerfully in the breeze and then falling into a softer flow, humming faintly with a hint of menace that is more clearly communicated in her large, ruby eyes. Glowing red energy leaps from her palms with the greatest of ease, making those attacks, and the destruction they leave in their wake, a kind of trademark of her infamy.

She is the brilliant red. Which suits her, he's long since realized. It's the color of passion—mercurial and unpredictable. He never ceases to be amused by how when she's unspeakably pleased her face flushes with a bright rosy hue…and then does the exact same thing when she's unspeakably angry. It makes it her easy to read as a general rule: she likes to wear her heart on her sleeve (or, rather, on her face). But sometimes, when he doesn't know _quite_ what she's thinking, he'll look to her eyes. Like a mystic reading patterns in the flames, he searches for that crafty glint that lets him know mischief is afoot so he should put up his guard, or for the fuming spark that tells him he should be running far, far away.

He is the perfect blue. And yet in the heat of battle his blood pumps loudly in his ears, and out of the depths of his soul a dark, guttural roar rips from his throat making his foes halt in their tracks. She is the brilliant red. And yet with a few words, she becomes deathly still—silent, pale—visited by the kiss of death that she noiselessly and without warning delivers to another.

He is the perfect blue. And yet the blood he bleeds is impossibly red, and the tears he cries are inexplicably hot. She is the brilliant red. But she grows cold with the knowledge that within in her lays the power of infinity. And on some nights, she snaps awake completely chilled to the bone, the vestiges of an endless void birthed from a memory or a dream reaching out for her. In the morning, she will light a blaze to chase away the night's chill, and he will wipe away the tears to get rid of its oppressive, offensive heat. Because, in the morning, they will look at each other and take in what they need, and in turn, give what they think the other needs. And that will make them feel like them selves again.

He is the perfect blue. She is the brilliant red. But it is when they are together that their colors shine the brightest.


	2. Like Pieces of a Puzzle

Header: Slayers, Lina/Zelgadis, # 16 & # 21  
Title: Like Pieces of a Puzzle  
Pairing: Lina Inverse/Zelgadis Graywords  
Fandom: _Slayers_  
Theme: #21 violence/pillage and plunder; #16 invincible/unrivaled  
Disclaimer: _Slayers_ and its characters are the property of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi and a whole smattering of other publishers and producers.

Blazing flames engulfed the compound and sent towers of thick, black smoke billowing into the air. Resounding blasts from explosions added to the confusion, sending debris flying and tremors through the ground. Panicked people fled in every direction, tripping over rubble and prostate bodies in their panic. At the center of all the carnage, someone stood laughing maniacally.

It was, in short, a perfectly normal day.

Zelgadis Graywords stood on the nearby hill over-looking the campsite with his companions, and they watched with an air of resignation that by all normal respects should have been at least a little more horrified than it actually was considering chaos before them.

"Shouldn't we stop her?" Amelia finally ventured. Out of the corner of his eye, Zelgadis regarded her profile. It would seem that even after all these years the young princess still hadn't managed to shake off that natural propensity towards philanthropy.

"Don't bother," his other companion said. "You know she'd do it anyway." That was true enough. But Zelgadis supposed that if anyone knew Lina Inverse, it would be Gourry. The man was pretty dense, but you don't travel that long without at least learning a few things about people.

They called her Bandit Killer and Enemy to All Who Lived. And with a performance like this, it was pretty easy to see why. Zelgadis snorted softly under his breath. But of course, _she_ always protested she didn't know for the _life_ of her _how_ those names came about, honest to goodness.

Lina giggled gleefully as she sent off another fireball in the direction of a fleeing bandit, and the three heaved a simultaneous sigh, exchanging looks that said _**you **go get her_.

What a strange bunch they were: an idealistic princess, an idiot savant, and…him, the chimera with the chip on his shoulder in more ways than one. They had absolutely nothing in common, and they were the last sorts of people with whom Zelgadis ever expected to associate, let alone end up facing off against half the dark lords with. He wasn't a very trusting person by nature, and Amelia and Gourry were the types he usually scorned. Yet, here he was commiserating over a burden equally shared, and that only they would ever be able to truly appreciate.

In that sense, Lina Inverse was even more incredible than he gave her credit for. With nothing but the force of her personality and actions, she was able to forge a fellowship of four strangers, and together they literally were able to conquer anything. If you had asked him ten years ago what he'd be doing right now, this wouldn't have even made the list.

Zelgadis chuckled, reminiscing over his old life. She had quite changed it, with that characteristic explosive chaos that she always used to handle such delicate matters. It no longer resembled anything he had expected it to be.

He glanced over to his companions. They had been through so much together. They had fought forces that hadn't even been charted in this world. They had i_won_/i, all the while following the lead of one Lina Inverse. Because something in her made them understand that her immense power was their best chance of survival. Because something in her made them believe. Because something in her made them feel invincible, just the way they knew she i_was_/i.

Zelgadis jumped lightly into the air and levitated onto the ground. Gingerly side-stepping a pile of charred rubble, he made his way to the center of the encampment. "Lina," he said, tiredly. "Don't you think it's about time to stop?"

Lina Inverse grinned impishly and blew him a kiss. He shook his head ruefully, but couldn't quite cover up the knowing smirk starting to form.

Those who knew of her infamy cursed her name to the darkest depths of the Underworld and back. But the ones who knew her best knew they would follow her there.


End file.
